Dec. 13, 2023

Spiritual Warfare Part 11 Worksheet: 

Knowing God’s Will

God is not trying to hide His will from us; He wants to reveal it. In fact, He has already given us many directions in His Word. We are to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). We are to do good works (1 Peter 2:15). And “it is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thess. 4:3). God’s will is knowable and provable. We cannot remain conformed to the pattern of this world, but instead we must be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2). As our minds are renewed to the things of God, then we can know God’s perfect will.

Give thanks 

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” Hudson Taylor

Psalm 139:14 

God created me on the basis of love, and wherever there is true  divine  love, there is freedom, where there is freedom there are options, wherever there are options there is the will. 

Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ 

Doing Good works

“Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8‭-‬10‬

Good Works

Most tend to think that “works” is a negative thing, but that has to do with Salvation, meaning that we are not saved by our works/ deeds or anything we did or can do. 

For it was all God’s work of grace in us, so we have no reason to boast, no grounds for feeling a  sense of accomplishment with our salvation. 

Failure of Good Works

What are the works that a believer is  capable of doing now that he/ she has a spiritual union with Christ. 

At this point some may wonder if Sin is so destructive how could one man/ even Christ  cover all the sins of those who have called him lord, wouldn’t he have to die for each and everyone of them?

Since Christ is the Infinite God, he could die once for any number of finite creatures taking the eternal punishment of an infinite multitude and could atone for the guilty in the hour of his death. Therefore the weight of our sin was counted unto him and now God’s righteousness is now available through him. 

The weight of our works measure an empty scale of nothing compared to His sacrifice. We must empty ourselves of our own confidence and come trembling to the scales as it weighs the perfection of what God demands. 

Be Sanctified

“How does God save His people from the pleasure of sin? The answer is, “By imparting to them a nature which hates evil and loves holiness.” This takes place when they are born again, so that actual salvation begins with regeneration. Of course it does; where else could it commence? Fallen man can neither perceive his desperate need of salvation, nor come to Christ for it, till he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.” A.W. Pink. 

“The devil himself is a believer, but not a Christian. Know the difference and recognize it in yourself and others.”  

A Christian soldier is made complete with Prayer, for it is the subject of no limitations. 

Prayer is like a ballistic missile. If we ever think that prayer is ineffective then you’re not focusing your prayer on the Will of God as it must depend on the Holy Spirit for it’s effectiveness. 

Those types of prayers are what we define as dangerous prayers “in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18). God does not commit such a weapon to Christians who are guided only by their carnal  desires.

If we are spending our time doing things that are only acceptable to us, and not God’s will. Why would we ever expect God to reveal His glorious will to us?

Why would the Lord Jesus reveal His will to you?

Is it because you are better than your friends? 

Is it because you think you are a good  person? 

Is it because you are kind to people? 

For the Lord is saying to each and everyone of us, Wake up, Redeem the time, for the Days are evil. What else do you want God to reveal to you to prove that this is an evil time and generation?

Renew your minds

J.I. Packer put it well: “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.” 

Spiritually stable  means mutual love, harmony, and  peace between believers. 

Too many people in America today think that the purpose of faith in God is to have God solve all my problems so there is no more pain, no more suffering. 

The challenge we have as human beings is to work through our pain so that we can know Christ better. 

Philippians 3:10

Paul realized that absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ’s work on the cross was of any value in gaining God’s acceptance.

There is a fellowship of sharing  in Christ’s suffering that we must understand.

The all powerful eternal God, became a human being and suffered, Jesus experienced pain. Jesus mentions that He used pain to always obey the Father.

Let’s unpack what it looks like to know Christ in the power of His resurrection and share in the fellowship of His suffering. 

Believers have the same  power  that raised Jesus from the dead (Eph. 1:19). 

What power is that? 

This power is at work within us so that we may desire to work according to God’s pleasure (Phil. 2:13). 

This power is at work within us to make us holy. 

This power is at work within us to help us understand  God’s great love and mercy. 

This power gives us strength to endure life’s hardships (Col. 1:11-12). 

Our heart needs to know Christ, we need to want the  power of Christ.” 

Paul says that he wants to know the fellowship  of Christ’s sufferings. Many don’t understand the truth about Christianity

No one enjoys suffering, Jesus didn’t, and neither did Paul enjoy suffering. 

That’s not what he means here, he understands that in following the Man of sorrows, we, too, will encounter  suffering and sorrow, and as we follow along this Calvary Road, we will know the Master better. 

If you want to know Christ more than anything in life, and it’s through suffering  for Him that you’ll know Him better, then you won’t mind suffering. It will be worth it! You will actually find  joy in it (Acts 5:41).

“Let the struggling believer be comforted; let the apathetic church member be warned. The great evidence of true conversion is God’s ongoing work of sanctification in our lives. If we have been saved by grace through faith, we are now God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good work, which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). The evidence that God has begun a good work until that final day.” Paul Washer

How can I help protect my children from these things and help them become better than ourselves? 

Exemplify Christ

Deny yourself and Obey the Father 

 Pray continuously

 Open communication with the Lord constantly: Keeping your focus on His will.

Worship passionately

Become vulnerable with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to minister to your Soul and Spirit.

Understand the Word

Scripture tells us that God reveals the meaning of scripture to those of His who ask, meditate and are willing to obey.

Proverbs 9:10

Proverbs 14:29

James 1:21-22